where is the outside air temp sensor?

[kyleabaker]

...and to think all i charge is materials and a drinking buddy... maybe that is why i have so many alcoholic mates...

How did that turn out? Good? If so I might even pay you to ship one plus come down and drink a beer with you later dude.

Loving the bike. I love CBR's. Where do you live at btw? I'm planning to do a world trip and I just might hit up your location with a few friends and buy you and your friends a few rounds of beers.

[96is]

Heya!
Apologies for dying Coop! great looking bike. I have not totally sworn off them, but I realize that my excursions with 2 wheels should probably be without a motor Kyle, so you're getting ready to graduate in May? Congrats!!!! Good luck with that world tour, I hope that it will go well. Have you got the journey plotted?

We're playing with the idea of having spring here, Warm one day, cold the next. Snow one day 60's the next Gotta love Missouri. I'm getting ready for biking season and debating on how much of my income tax refund is going to Roxanne (the car)

[kyleabaker]

The weather here has been pretty much the same. Hot one day then freezing the next. Only a couple more weeks left! W00t!

[96is]

How's it feel to be a grad? I hope you survived the celebrations!

[kyleabaker]

I'm still here, haha. Just been busy with a temporary job for the time being.

Anything new for the bimmers? I just recently fixed my e36 headlights where they were foggy. Pretty simple and saved me over $400 for new headlights.

Now what else can I do? haha. Sadly I have a to-do list for tasks large and small that will most likely never get finished.

Have you guys ever attempted to remove the gray paint from the rocker panel so as to uncover the matching paint underneath? I think I'm going to look into this to see if I can get matching sideskirts. I'm not a big fan of the two-tone setup.

[96is]

I just did the same thing with my headlights only I used the Diamond Clear stuff from BavAuto. It worked okay, but I could have done a better job. My end goal is still to get some glass lenses.

I also have encountered a long to-do list with a short list of time to fit it in.

I am gradually removing all the paint from my skirts, one vehicle exit at a time. Not the desired method, but in short I haven't found a way to get it off easily. Is yours still on there completely? Mine has worn pretty well. I'd like to get a single color look all the way around the car as well, I just don't want to pay the $$$ for it, though I am playing around with the idea of getting the car repainted which might deal with some of the issues. I've currently got 3 spots where the clear coat has come up and looks a little less than tasteful. Have you encountered any fixes for that?

[kyleabaker]

The rocker panel paint on my 1995 325is seems to be in better condition than the Boston Metallic Green paint on the rest of the car, haha. I can't find it worn down in any places and I'd really like to see some a worn spot with green paint showing through. I've heard some bad stories about people starting to remove the gray rocker panel paint only to find that their car was one from a specific time range that wasn't paint matched to begin with.

There are a few places on my car that need some touch up work. I have several chips from rocks on the hood and one or two on the sun roof, the top rear bumper (part above the black moulding trim) has managed to lose every single bit of clear coat and I still have a dent to have removed in my drivers side front fender where someone hit it in a parking lot.

I think I might be able to get the dent removed using one of those "paintless dent removal" services and just touch up a spot or two with the touch up paint I have.

I plan to fill the chips on the hood and sunroof after removing all of the wax on those chips and about an inch around them, then with some very fine sand paper (~4000) smooth the paint to blend it in. After that I was thinking of getting some touch up clear coat and doing the same thing (sanding), then buffing and waxing until they blend back into the rest of the paint.

I've been reading up on detailing and diy repairs a lot lately and I think the small touch up areas will be similar to the headlight trick. I do however plan to test it out in a hidden place first.

As for the rear bumper where the clear coat is all gone, I think I could use some clear coat spray and put several coats on it. Then let it dry and sand it, buff it and wax it. The only thing I need to find out first is if I need to buff the base coat before applying the clear coat so that it appears polished through the clear coat.

I'd love to have a nice weekend with decent weather to work on it all. It's been raining for nearly a week already here and I think it's supposed to continue until Friday. Maybe I can give some of these ideas a work out this coming weekend and get back to you.

I've been meaning to give the car a full detailing and cleaning the entire engine (finally) with some degreasers and cleaners like GUNK.